Human Health Risk Assessment of Microplastics – Scientific Workshop

Virginia Janssens joined Plastics Europe as Managing Director in March 2020 with a clear mandate to help accelerate a solutions-driven approach, working towards the circularity and climate goals of a sustainable plastics industry. Building on eight years as Managing Director of EUROPEN, (the European Organization for Packaging and the Environment), Virginia brings considerable experience in businesscritical issues, engaging with different parts of the plastics value chain, and key EU policy priorities. Prior to EUROPEN, Virginia acquired her knowledge of the Brussels arena working for a leading public affairs consultancy on multisector clients including food, chemicals and energy. She holds a Master’s Degree in Political & Social Sciences from the Catholic University of Leuven in Belgium, and a second Master’s Degree in Intercultural Management from the ICHEC Business School in Brussels. Virginia is a mother of a young boy and lives in Ghent.

Prof. Dr. Albert Braeuning is a biochemist and toxicologist with a strong background in liver toxicity, nuclear receptors and xenobiotic metabolism. Since 2014, he is head of the unit “Effect-based analytics and toxicogenomics” in the Department of Food Safety at the German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment. Since 2020, he is also professor for toxicology at the Charité University Hospital, Berlin, Germany.

Dr. Jens C. Otte is a Senior Specialist with BASF’s headquartered unit on Corporate Projects Product Safety with more than 10y of experience in risk assessment on chemicals and management of projects and teams. He manages various topics within his company as well as under the umbrella of the International Council of Chemical Associations towards applied science and capacity building for the sound management of chemicals in various regions globally. Jens holds a doctoral degree in natural sciences from the University of Heidelberg, Germany. His previous studies on biology and toxicology led him to the Universities of Heidelberg (Germany), Uppsala (Sweden), Saskatoon (Canada), and the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (Germany).

Dr. Blanca Serrano joined ECETOC, the European Center for Chemical Safety Assessment, as Secretary General in 2022.

Previously she worked for 7 years in Cefic, the European Chemical Industry Association, as Product Stewardship Director, working on issues related to Nanomaterials, Microplastics and the Classification, labelling and Packaging Regulation (CLP) and had extensive experience in chemical regulatory affairs from her previous role as Product Stewardship Coordinator in FEIQUE, the Spanish Chemical Industry Association.

Dr. Serrano conducted her PhD in the Technical University of Eindhoven (The Netherlands) in 2003 as part of the Polymer Technology Department, specializing during that time in nanotechnology. In 2008 she received her title for the thesis “Formation of 3D micro- and nanostructures using liquid crystals as a template”.

Dr. Bart Koelmans is an environmental chemist and ecotoxicologist by training who heads the Aquatic Ecology and Water Quality Department at Wageningen University. In the field of plastic research, his group aims to bridge the gap between conceptual and empirical approaches to obtain a mechanistic understanding of the risks of microplastic for human health and the environment. Bart is a global highly cited researcher (Clarivate analytics), advises international organizations like the World Health Organization, led international working groups about risks of plastic pollution, such as the European Commission’s Science Advice for Policy by European Academies (SAPEA) expert group on Microplastics in Nature and Society, and is Editor-in-Chief of the new journal Microplastics and Nanoplastics.

Since 2021, Elisabeth Pinter is working at the OFI in the section of “Packaging and Food” as a project manager for F&E projects and is responsible for the evaluation of food contact materials. There she supervises several research projects, which focus on plastic recycling materials, circular economy and the safety assessment of packaging material. Moreover, she is involved in several international Cornet projects, such as microplastic@food and PolCycle. Before that she worked for several years as a researcher and project manager at the University of Applied Sciences in Vienna in the section of “Packaging and Resource Management”. She studied food- and biotechnology at BOKU Vienna and has a PhD from TU Vienna in chemistry, with a focus on the safety assessment of food contact materials.

Juliette Legler is Professor of Toxicology at the Institute for Risk Assessment Sciences, Utrecht University, where she also heads the Department of Population Health Sciences at the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine. Juliette is a European Registered Toxicologist and is President of the Netherlands Society of Toxicology. Previously she worked at Brunel University London (2016-2017) and VU University Amsterdam (2001-2015) where she became a full professor in 2013. Her research focusses on understanding how exposure to endocrine disrupting chemicals and other contaminants may affect human and environmental health, as well as developing novel testing methodologies to determine chemical hazards. Juliette has led various international research projects and currently coordinates the Microplastics and Human Health Consortium (MOMENTUM), a public-private partnership project funded by the Netherlands Organization for Health Research and Development (ZonMw) and Health Holland. She also leads the European project GOLIATH (Generation of Novel, Integrated and Internationally Harmonised Approaches for Testing Metabolism Disrupting Compounds), and the Netherlands Science Agenda project ‘Virtual Human Platform for Safety Assessment’. More information on Juliette can be found at www.uu.nl/staff/JLegler.

Prof. Dr. Dick Vethaak (1954) is a professor emeritus of “water quality and health” at VU University Amsterdam in the Netherlands. He previously worked as a senior specialist at Deltares in Delft and is currently a consultant at Utrecht University. Dick obtained his PhD in biology from the University of Amsterdam (1993) and is a European Registered Toxicologist (ERT) (since 1995). Although partially retired, he is currently co-supervising a handful of PhD students on plastic pollution and working on several projects on the health effects of nano/microplastics. Dick is co-coordinator of the Dutch MOMENTUM consortium on Microplastics and Health (start date: 1 June 2021). He is an advisor to the Netherlands Organization for Health Research and Development (ZonMw) and its front-runner Microplastics & Health research program. He has briefed/advised the Netherlands Health Council, World Health Organisation, UNEP, NGOs, and the Dutch government on health issues related to plastic litter and microplastics. He is the author of over 200 peer-reviewed publications, is (co)editor of several books, and receives over 2000 citations per year. Dick’s recent work, particularly on microplastics and possible health effects, has been frequently mentioned in national and international media.

Dr. Raymond Pieters (PhD) is Associate Professor at the Institute for Risk Assessment Sciences (IRAS) of UU (Faculty of Veterinary Medicine), and Professor in Innovative Testing in Life Sciences & Chemistry at University of Applied Sciences Utrecht (Hogeschool Utrecht). His research focuses on assessment of effects of substances (e.g. drugs, pollutants, microplastics) on inflammatory processes and immune responses. He has been involved in several projects on immune effects of airborne pollutants and recently started working on the effects of micro and nanoplastics on the immune system. He leads the EC-HORIZON project POLYRISK, aiming at understanding human exposure and health hazard of micro- and nanoplastic contaminants in our environment.

Andreja Rajkovic is a full time research professor at Ghent University, Faculty of Bioscience Engineering, Department of Food Technology, Food Safety and Health. His research comprises investigations of microbial toxins, foodborne pathogens and microplastics at the nexus of food, environment and health.

He is a member of Belgian Society of Food Microbiology, Serbian Society of Microbiology, the executive board of International Commission of Food Microbiology and Hygiene (ICFMH), and of Global Harmonization Initiative, which he represents in EFSA stakeholder group on the emerging hazards. He is a member of Scientific Committee of Belgian Federal Agency for food Safaety (FAVV).

He is a reviewer for number of international scientific journals including Trends in Food Science & Technology, Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy, Journal of Clinical Microbiology, Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, Food Research International, Postharvest Biology and Technology, Toxins, LWT-Food Science and Technology, Foodborne Pathogens and Disease, Journal of Food Protection, etc. He is an Editorial board member of International Journal of Food Microbiology, Food Analytical Methods, Toxins, and a founding Editor-in-Chief of International Journal of Food Contamination.

Meike van der Zande works at the Toxicology team at Wageningen Food Safety Research in The Netherlands. She has a background in biology and holds a doctoral degree in biomedical sciences. She has worked in the field of toxicology for over ten years working on strategies for hazard assessment in food and feed. She specializes in the field of nanotoxicology and on the development and application of new approach methodologies aiming at the reduction and replacement of in vivo testing.

Blanca María Pozuelo Rollón works as a project specialist in the Safety and Environmental Monitoring Technologies team at ITENE in Spain. She has a master’s degree in Bioinformatics and Computational Biology (UAM) with background on informatics. She has been working as a bioinformatician since 2021 in ITENE, and she is involved in different projects related with the hazard impact assessment. Within PlasticsFatE project, she is involved in the development of a web-platform which integrates the key elements developed within the project.

Dr Rachel Hurley is a researcher at the Norwegian Institute for Water Research. Her work focuses on environmental monitoring and the fate and transport of macro and microplastics in rivers and soil systems. Rachel is the deputy coordinator of the EU H2020 PAPILLONS project: “Plastic in Agricultural Production: Impacts, Life-cycles and LONg-term Sustainability” and also leads Work Package 2 related to the behaviour and transport of micro- and nanoplastics in soils.

Ingeborg Kooter PhD ERT (F) is working at TNO, department of circular economy and environment as a senior scientist. She has a background in molecular sciences, obtained a PhD (1999) in biochemistry at University of Amsterdam and is a European registrated toxicologist. She has worked at Unilever Research Vlaardingen and the National Institute of Health and Environment (RIVM) in the Netherlands before she joined TNO in 2007. She has been leading and participating in national and (inter)national research projects in the field of health effects of environmental pollutants. She is particularly interested in the health effects of environmental issues such as air pollution, nanoparticles and microplastics. Working in the field of exposure and hazard assessment. Very interested to develop a way that allows us to judge whether the air we breathe is healthy.